New Edition Home Again Tour Fight Video
Over the course of their four-decade career, New Edition has experienced the highest of highs and some deep valleys, but Ralph Tresvant, Michael Bivins, Ricky Bell, Ronnie DeVoe, Bobby Brown, and Johnny Gill (who joined the band after Brown's departure in 1987) have reunited to embark on their first tour in seven years.
After two years of lockdowns and social distancing, the show hitting the TD Garden Wednesday should be a special night out for old-school R&B fans who appreciate organic beats, romance, and dance, dance, dance.
"We're not getting any younger, and the opportunity arose for us to be with each other again. We're all at a point in our lives where it is necessary to do something together," says Tresvant about the impetus for the tour.
"We're always going to be able to do the solo careers and make that happen, but leaving New Edition on the shelf like that — we just didn't think it was the appropriate thing to do and never intended it to happen. It was time to put the mothership on the road."
He adds that the show will focus on classic New Edition material from their seven albums, and a "gumbo of songs" from the members' side projects.
Entitled "The Culture Tour," the name has special resonance for the band. "It seemed to fit what's happening out here right now," Tresvant says.
"A lot of people are trying to bond together, so it's a celebration of Black culture because that's what we are, but also human culture because New Edition fans are a wide variety of different cultures — that's part of the beauty of this. At its essence, though, it's for the people who come out of those projects, those from the inner-city streets, people who reflect our background, our upbringing, who we are as guys. All the people who raised us — we acknowledge them."
The group has had a renaissance over the past decade with a well-received BET docu-drama miniseries on their career in 2017, the same year they received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. During November's American Music Awards, they faced off against the New Kids on the Block in a much-celebrated "Battle of Boston Bands," with New Edition getting rave notices.
As Tresvant readily admits, there have been rocky moments throughout the band's history, including numerous public squabbles. Ultimately, the Roxbury natives and the Washington, D.C.-born Gill share a bond that transcends those conflicts.
"The main thing that binds us is friendship," maintains the engaging Tresvant. "We weren't put together piece by piece as a band. We were friends who played and ran around together, so we were close from the beginning in Roxbury.
"There's also a passion for what we do. We love the music and wanted to be as big as possible — bigger than some of the artists we emulated and were inspired by. Once the train got rolling, we just wanted to keep it going despite the problems. We don't always get along, but it's like brothers and sisters — they don't always see eye to eye either. You find a way to make the family work."
While younger fans of Lil Yachty or Billie Eilish may not be familiar with the New Edition canon, the group's influence can be heard all over modern R&B from younger acts like Giveon, to older R&B revivalists Silk Sonic, to K-Pop boy bands.
Tresvant is proud of the New Edition legacy and says it runs far deeper than the music.
"We added to the culture. We took off where the Jacksons and Temptations and others left off. We kept that tradition of music going and inspired other kids, who inspired other kids to make music and feed their families."
He takes a moment to reflect. "Remember we were project kids and what we did helped us grow out of that situation and live our dreams. Our legacy is to keep inspiring people who are in the position we were in when we started — give them hope. Maybe they'll think, 'If they could do it, I can do it.' That's a big part of it."
The band's last album of original material, "One Love," came out in 2004, but Tresvant says they will be working on a new record soon. They won't be trying to reinvent their sound like so many legacy acts that fruitlessly try to chase young audiences with the hottest beatmakers.
"The industry has changed completely from when we were doing it, so we'd like to put out a record to stay relevant and keep the energy out there. It's not to make a million dollars and think we're going to go platinum. It's more to stay active and give our fans something we're proud of."
The vocalist, who has put out three successful solo records, lives in Los Angeles now, but he still has family in Boston and insists that the entire band is looking forward to performing in the city that nurtured them.
"I feel like I've achieved a lot of the dreams I had growing up. I think we all do. For now, though, it's all about New Edition, and we can't wait to get back to play for Boston, which is just a special place. If we can get the guys down the street in Roxbury excited, we'll have no problem with the rest of the world."
NEW EDITION
With Charlie Wilson and Jodeci. At TD Garden, March 2 at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $69.50. www.tdgarden.com/events
Source: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/02/23/arts/tour-bonding-again-new-edition-comes-home/
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